5. War and Peace

War is the highest form of struggle for resolving
contradictions, when they have developed to a certain stage,
between classes, nations, states, or political groups, and it has
existed ever since the emergence of private property and of
classes.

"War is the continuation of
politics." In this sense, war is politics and war itself is a
political action; since ancient times there has never been a war
that did not have a political character.... However, war has its
own particular characteristics and in this sense, it cannot be
equated with politics in general. "War is the continuation of
politics by other . . . means." When politics develops to a
certain stage beyond which it cannot proceed by the usual means,
war breaks out to sweep the obstacles from the way.... When the
obstacle is removed and our political aim attained the war will
stop. Nevertheless, if the obstacle is not completely swept away,
the war will have to continue until the aim is fully
accomplished.... It can therefore be said that politics is war
without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.

"On Protracted War" (May 1938), Selected
Works, Vol. II, pp. 152-53 *

History shows that wars are
divided into two kinds, just and unjust. All wars that are
progressive are just, and all wars that impede progress are
unjust. We Communists oppose all unjust wars that impede progress,
but we do not oppose progressive, just wars. Not only do we
Communists not oppose just wars; we actively participate in
them. As for unjust wars, World War I is an instance in which both
sides fought for imperialist interests; therefore, the Communists
of the whole world firmly opposed that war. The way to oppose a
war of this kind is to do everything possible to prevent it before
it breaks out and, once it breaks out, to oppose war with war, to
oppose unjust war with just war, whenever possible.

Ibid., p. 150.

Revolutions and revolutionary
wars are inevitable in class society, and without them it is
impossible to accomplish any leap in social development and to
overthrow the reactionary ruling classes and therefore impossible
for the people to win political power.

"On Contradiction" (August1937), Selected
Works, Vol. I, p. 344.*

Revolutionary war is an antitoxin
that not only eliminates the enemy's poison but also purges us of
our own filth. Every just, revolutionary war is endowed with
tremendous power and can transform many things or clear the way
for their transformation. The Sino-Japanese war will transform
both China and Japan; provided China perseveres in the War of
Resistance and in the united front, the old Japan will surely be
transformed into a new Japan and the old China into a new China,
and people and everything else in both China and Japan will be
transformed during and after the war.

"On Protracted War" (May 1938), Selected
Works, Vol. II, p. 131.*

Every Communist must grasp the
truth; "Political power grows out of the barrel of a
gun."

The seizure of power by armed force, the settlement
of the issue by war, is the central task and the highest form of
revolution. This Marxist-Leninist principle of revolution holds
well universally, for China and for all other countries.

Ibid. p. 219.

Without armed struggle neither
the proletariat, nor the people, nor the Communist Party would
have any standing at all in China and it would be impossible for
the revolution to triumph. In these years [the eighteen years
since the founding of the Party] the development, consolidation
and bolshevization of our Party have proceeded in the midst of
revolutionary wars; without armed struggle the Communist Party
would assuredly not be what it is today. Comrades throughout the
Party must never forget this experience for which we have paid in
blood.

According to the Marxist theory of the state, the
army is the chief component of state power. Whoever wants to seize
and retain state power must have a strong army. Some people
ridicule us as advocates of the "omnipotence of
war". Yes, we are advocates of the omnipotence of
revolutionary war; that is good, not bad, it is Marxist. The guns
of the Russian Communist Party created socialism. We shall create
a democratic republic. Experience in the class struggle in the era
of imperialism teaches us that it is only by the power of the gun
that the working class and the laboring masses can defeat the
armed bourgeoisie and landlords; in this sense we may say that
only with guns can the whole world be transformed.

We are advocates
of the abolition of war, we do not want war; but war can only be
abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is
necessary to take up the gun.

Ibid.

War, this monster of mutual slaughter
among men, will be finally eliminated by the progress of human
society, and in the not too distant future too. But there is only
one way to eliminate it and that is to oppose war with war, to
oppose counterrevolutionary war with revolutionary war, to oppose
national counter-revolutionary war with national revolutionary
war, and to oppose counter-revolutionary class war with
revolutionary class war.... When human society advances to the
point where classes and states are eliminated, there will be no
more wars, counter-revolutionary or revolutionary, unjust or just;
that will be the era of perpetual peace for mankind. Our study of
the laws of revolutionary war springs from the desire to eliminate
all wars. Herein, lies the distinction between us Communists and
all the exploiting classes.

Our country and all the
other socialist countries want peace; so do the peoples of all the
countries of the world. The only ones who crave war and do not
want peace are certain monopoly capitalist groups in a handful of
imperialist countries that depend on aggression for their
profits.

"Opening Address at the Eighth
National Congress of the Communist Party of China" (September
15, 1956).

To achieve a lasting world peace, we must further
develop our friendship and co-operation with the fraternal
countries in the socialist camp and strengthen our solidarity with
all peace-loving countries. We must endeavor to establish normal
diplomatic relations, based on mutual respect for territorial
integrity and sovereignty and of equality and mutual benefit, with
all countries willing to live together with us in peace. We must
give active support to the national independence and liberation
movement in countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America as well as
to the peace movement and to just struggles in all the countries
of the world.

Ibid.

As for the
imperialist countries, we should unite with their peoples and
strive to coexist peacefully with those countries, do business
with them and prevent any possible war, but under no circumstances
should we harbour any unrealistic notions about them.

On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the
People (February 27, 1957), 1st pocket ed., p. 75.

We desire
peace. However, if imperialism insists on fighting a war, we will
have no alternative but to take the firm resolution to fight to
the finish before going ahead with our construction. If you are
afraid of war day in day out, what will you do if war eventually
comes? First, I said that the East Wind is prevailing over the
West Wind and war will not break out, and now I have added these
explanations about the situation in case war should break
out. Both possibilities have thus been taken into account.

Speech at the Moscow Meeting of Communist and
Workers' Parties (November 18, 1957), quoted in "Statement by
the Spokesman of the Chinese Government" (September 1,
1963).*

People all over the world are now discussing whether
a third world war will break out. On this question, too, we must
be mentally prepared and do some analysis. We stand firmly for
peace and against war. However, if the imperialists insist on
unleashing another war, we should not be afraid of it. Our
attitude on this question is the same as our attitude towards any
disturbance: first, we are against it; second, we are not afraid
of it. The First World War was followed by the birth of the Soviet
Union with a population of 200 million. The Second World War was
followed by the emergence of the socialist camp with a combined
population of 900 million. If the imperialists insist on launching
a third world war, it is certain that several hundred million more
will turn to socialism, and then there will not be much room left
on earth for the imperialists; it is also likely that the whole
structure of imperialism will utterly collapse.

On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the
People (February 27, 1957), 1st pocket ed., pp. 67-68.

Make
trouble, fail, make trouble again, fail again . . . until their
doom- that is the logic of the imperialists and all reactionaries
the world over in dealing with the people's cause and they will
never go against this logic. This is a Marxist law. When we say
"imperialism is ferocious", we mean that its nature will
never change, that the imperialists will never lay down their
butcher knives, that they will never become Buddhas, till their
doom. Fight, fail, fight again, fail again, fight again
. . . until their victory; that is the logic of the people, and
they too will never go against this logic. This is another Marxist
law. The Russian people's revolution followed this law, and so has
the Chinese people's revolution.

Just because we have won
victory, we must never relax our vigilance against the frenzied
plots for revenge by the imperialists and their running
dogs. Whoever relaxes vigilance will disarm himself politically
and land himself in a passive position.

"Address to the Preparatory Committee of the
New Political Consultative Conference" (June 15, 1949),
Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 407.

The imperialists and their
running dogs, the Chinese reactionaries, will not resign
themselves to defeat in this land of China. They will continue to
gang up against the Chinese people in every possible way. For
example, they will smuggle their agents into China to sow
dissension and make trouble. That is certain; they will never
neglect these activities. To take another example, the
imperialists will incite the Chinese reactionaries, and even throw
in their own forces, to blockade China's ports. They will do this
as long as it is possible. Furthermore, if they still hanker after
adventures, they will send some of their troops to invade and
harass frontiers of China; this, too, is not impossible. All this
we must take fully into account.

Ibid.*

The world is progressing, the future is bright and no one
can change this general trend of history. We should carry on
constant propaganda among the people on the facts of world
progress and the bright future ahead so that they will build their
confidence in victory.

The commanders and fighters of the entire
Chinese People's Liberation Army absolutely must not relax in the
least their will to fight; any thinking that relaxes the will to
fight and belittles the enemy is wrong.

"Report to the Second Plenary Session of the
Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China"
(March 5, 1949), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 361.